Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service (MCFRS) Division Chief Charles Bailey was nominated earlier this month to be the county’s next fire chief. If confirmed, he would be the first Black person in that role.
“I wish I wasn’t the first Black anything in Montgomery County. It’s 2023,” Bailey said. “It would be nice if this had happened before, but it hasn’t.”
Bailey said that his nomination for fire chief shows that the county is committed to making its workforce more diverse.
“It sends a really clear message to people about this, confirming the notion that the county executive and the County Council have been talking about for so long, that all jobs and career paths are available to everybody, and that Montgomery County is committed to building a workforce that is diverse and reflective of the community,” Bailey said.
Bailey has worked with MCFRS for 34 years, starting as a volunteer in Sandy Spring and working as a paramedic and as a member of the hazmat team. Bailey said he has enjoyed all his roles, but he particularly misses being a paramedic.
“What I miss the most is going home at the end of the day knowing 100% for certain that I had a positive impact on somebody’s life,” Bailey said.
As the leader of the department’s Division of Operations, he is “responsible for the personnel management and immediate direction of the career and volunteer personnel who are assigned to the 37 fire and rescue stations within Montgomery County,” according to the MCFRS website.
Montgomery County’s Assistant Chief Administrative Officer Earl Stoddard said on social media that he commends Bailey for his dedication to his community.
“I have worked with Chief Bailey for a long time through a number of serious incidents as well as the challenges posed by Ebola, Zika, and COVID-19,” Stoddard said. “Charles is one of the smartest practitioners I have worked with.”
Bailey said that during the height of the pandemic, he helped organize numerous resources and protocols, including creating a COVID-19 testing site, ordering masks and quickly creating a vaccine clinic.
“We’ve never done vaccinations before, so we had to work ourselves, build the infrastructure and then deliver the product in 72 hours,” Bailey said. “And I don’t know that I’ve been a part of a team that was that special before.”
Also, Stoddard said that he is impressed with Bailey’s “understanding of the intersection between the fire service, public health, equity, and innovation.”
Patrick Campbell, deputy chief operating officer of the county’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), also shared his admiration of Bailey’s commitment to public health.
“He is a great choice, always includes DHHS, [and is] very supportive, smart, and [a] strong leader,” Campbell said.
If confirmed, Bailey will fill the role vacated by Scott Goldstein, who stepped down in July.
“He handed us a fire department that runs really well,” Bailey said. “And as a matter of fact, it’s been continuing to run [well] for seven months under Interim Chief [John] Kinsley.”
Still, Bailey said there is always room for improvement.
Bailey said his first priority as fire chief will be to figure out where the vulnerable people are in the community and how he can best meet their needs because the majority of calls originate from them.
“We deploy resources to these places, and we start asking questions and start figuring out what people need and start providing fire safety or emergency medical information in ways that are culturally competent, respectful of native languages and in other ways that allow us to connect with people,” Bailey said.
The Montgomery County Council will schedule a confirmation vote for Bailey in the coming months.
